[REVIEW] The Saem Urban Eco Harakeke Toner

Even though I hadn’t read many good reviews about the Saem, I was still curious to try some of their products and so when I needed a new toner I decided to try this one out. My reasons for picking this toner aren’t that great – I wanted to try it because of “harakeke” which is a unique flax from New Zealand. It was the first time I’d seen a product with this particular plant, that and the green bottle looked so fresh, simple and well just appealing to me.

I’ll admit it’s not the best reason to try something out, but I suppose thinking the product looks good or has unique ingredients often attracts people to them, right? Or maybe it’s just me who falls for things like that?Claims:

2. Apply from the centre of your face and pat it outwards until it absorbs.

My skin type: Dry, easily dehydrated skin with mild rosacea.

The Saem Urban Eco Harakeke Toner Review:

The toner comes in a tall green glass like pump bottle, it’s an attractive looking bottle with a (fake) wooden cap. The first time I tried to use this toner, I mistakenly unscrewed the wooden lid, and then realised it had a pump.

I find the pump is really convenient and easy to use, but the toner itself is less convenient, at least for me. Most toners are a liquid, a very runny liquid that runs and spills easily which also can be inconvenient. But this toner comes out as a gel, almost like little drops of jelly in your hand. And while the instructions say to use a pad I generally pump it onto my palm or my finger and apply it directly.

When I first started using this toner, I would pump the toner 3-4 times on my palm, but then I realised it was too difficult to pick up the toner. It slides around and wobbles, and when you have a lot of the toner for me it was very difficult to pick up.

I often dropped the gel on the counter or the sink, because it was too slippery to pick up with my fingers. So maybe using a pad is the best way to contain or manage this toner? Nowadays I do one pump at a time and pump it directly on my index finger or into my palm, this way it’s easier to manage it.

The toner does have quite a strong smell, so I’m careful not to put it close to my eyes as any scented products tend to irritate my eyes. The Saem says the scent is a green fruity floral scent, but to me it reminds me of the scent of men’s cologne. It doesn’t bother me too much but people who are very sensitive to scents should be careful as it might be too strong for you.

As mentioned previously this toner contains Harakeke which is a native flax from New Zealand. There isn’t much information about this plant but historically the Maori (native people from New Zealand) used harakeke flax gel in a similar way to aloe vera, as well as an antidote for poison, and as medicine.

Harakeke gel was also used to treat redness and eczema, so having this as the star of the toner certainly makes a lot of sense and makes it seem as if it should be a very good and healing toner. The harakeke is the first ingredient in the toner, so hopefully the toner contains a high proportion of this. It also contains calendula flower water and manuka honey which is also a moisturising ingredient as well as antibacterial.

This toner looks so promising however I don’t find it to be that moisturising – but perhaps that’s because of my skin type. I’ve been using this toner for several months now (it’s almost finished) and while I find it very soothing, and pleasant to use it’s not hydrating enough for my dry and dehydrated skin.

My skin is very dry and easily dehydrated so most moisturising products don’t work that well for me, and to be fair this toner is no worse than others I’ve tried. Other toners that people rave about as moisturising worked as well as this one.

It works well as a soothing cooling toner, and while it’s not hydrating enough for me, I actually rather like using this toner. Because it’s a gel I find that it makes my skin feel quite moist and wet, and not oily and it feels quite refreshing as well. Overall, it’s a great basic toner, but it’s not the best or the most hydrating toner. Also, the gel texture and the star ingredient (harakeke) both make this a unique toner to use.

I’m unsure if I’ll repurchase this toner, probably not at the moment since I have another toner to try out. But I do quite enjoy using this toner, even if at first, I found the gel texture a bit strange, I’ve come to quite like it now. So, I might try this toner again, or else I might try the Harakeke Firming Seed toner instead.

I think this toner would work well for people with oily and normal skin and especially in the summer. For people with dry or very dehydrated skin this toner isn’t moisturising enough on its own.